The Barnsby Blog

—– Original Message —–
From: “George Barnsby”
To: “Barnsby Daily Blog”
Cc:
Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2009 1:32 AM
Subject: GEORGE BARNSBY BLOG NO.678 MONDAY 6TH JANUARY 2009
www.gbpeopleslibrary.co.uk

> INSIDE GAZA
> We have been for a long time out of Gaza looking in with fellow
> opponents of the terrible slaughter there who include Stop the War
> Campaign, Our World Our Say, The Muslim opponents of the Gaza mass
> murderers and the Morning Star which now it has gone on line is likely to
> become the most influential Web Site in Britain. We have also been linked
> with such influential people as Nasir Khan the Kashmiri born Muslim who
> keeps the world informed on the Indian/Pakistan conflict because the
> continuance of this great menace to the sub-Continent and the world lies
> in their determination to control Kashmir. Other influential peace
> fighters include the Australian John Pilger whose country is now engulfed
> in controversy with the film Australia which purports to show Australians
> as a united community whereas the record of that country with its
> indigenous population is appalling and getting worse.
> Further racism is indulged in in Britain where Gordon Brown and New
> Labour are inextricably linked with Bush and Blair in supporting the war
> in Iraq as well as Afghanistan and Gaza which are racist and unwinnable.
> These criticisms apply to this very day when the Guardian has a
> deeply disturbing 5-page feature on the slaughter in Gaza, but none of
> its correspondents understand that Bush, Blair and Brown are the
> terrorists, even more so these days as they are willing to see the world
> destroyed with their Nuclear Madness.
> But all of us have been on the outside looking in until today when
> the Morning Star and Sami.Abdelshafi have taken us inside the resistance
> movement in Gaza, Iraq and Afghanistan. These are the people we shall talk
> to in future while Al Queeda English, the Arab website which is used by
> more people than any other Web in the world catches up with the fact that
> the people inside Gaza are the ones we talk with as the search for a
> non-capitalist and impartial source of the news we are obliged to listen
> to and watch and those who write and tell it have an enormous influence
> these days.
>
> MORE AGREE TO ATTEND MY 90TH BIRTHDAY WORLD WIDE PARTY.
> Perhaps I’ll start with Robert Barnsby my son, who is also my
> correspondent on the current situation in Greece. BLOGGERS will remember
> that he took our family Christmas presents to London and was assaulted by
> a burglar wielding what appeared to be toy gun with which he hit Rob about
> the head and stole his wallet, credit cards and car. Today he has had a
> call from the London police saying that they have impounded a car, and a
> weapon looking like a toy gun and have taken a DNA sample from the
> suspected man and will send two police officers to Wolverhampton tomorrow
> to take a DNA sample from Rob. Thus the London police have been acting
> efficiently as we hope the Wolverhampton police will on my Birthday when
> it seems a mass exodus will takes place from Henwood Road to my Party and
> we’ll need the police to protect our houses while we are merry making at
> the Wolves FC Hayward Suite.
> Yesterday we had Ned Williams the well-known historian and Workers’
> Education Association secretary sending his best wishes and saying that
> although he has an engagement on that night he hopes to be at Wolves by
> 9-45pm which is the exact time that we have decided that toasts will be
> made, the cake cut and the jollity will continue.
> Tonight I have had an acceptance from a very dear friend of mine, the
> Rev.Tom Rock the Catholic priest with whom I shared one of the most
> interesting episodes of my life. This was in March 1982 when we organised
> a Conference on Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles with the
> twin aims of giving those who lived there including children respite for
> a week end secondly that we could inform us Wolverhampton people of the
> situation there and what we could do to help the peace process. Two of
> the most important speakers were Tom Rock, the local Roman Catholic Priest
> and also the Rev. .Bill Boyd a local Protestant priest.
> Unfortunately our intentions were misunderstood and the word went
> around that we were bringing terrorists to Wolverhampton and we were
> denied premises to hold the Conference by the expedient of making
> insurance prohibitive. So in the end we had no alternative but to hold it
> on the premises of Wolverhampton Race Equality Council which proved the
> most appropriate venue for what was to be a most satisfactory event.
> It was chaired by a Methodist minister, Rev.Nigel Gilson and opened
> with messages of support from the Mayor, Ernest Bold and the Bishop of
> Wolverhampton. Then a message was read from Derek Dougan, the famous
> Wolves centre forward. Derek said that he had lived longer in England
> than he had lived in Northern Ireland, but his saddened heart is still in
> East Belfast where he was brought up. We were called Protestants, in
> another part of the City they were called Catholics and he could never
> understand why there was enmity and often hostility between the two. In
> England Protestants and Catholics get on together so why not in Ireland?
> The question begs other questions social, political and historical. For
> centuries politicians have tried to solve and failed to solve what is
> called the Irish question. This will remain while sectarian violence stalk
> our streets. People must learn to talk to each other about their
> differences and find common interests and mutual respect. The shooting of
> three young soldiers in Ulster is a further reminder that there are men of
> violence to whom any means are justified for their own ends. But on my
> frequent visits I find a good quality of life among the majority of
> people who are kindly, generous and peaceful.
> Nothing could have expressed better the purpose of the conference
> which then went into session with speakers from Wolverhampton and the
> Northern Ireland Civil Rights Conference and as people got to know each
> other their free time was taken up with discussion and plans for regular
> such conferences and the children were looked after and the adults either
> attended multi-faith religious services or found other useful ways to use
> their time including the preparation of a report of the Conference of
> which there are still a number unsold priced at 70p.
> But I cannot resist reading the last part of Derek Dougan’s
> contribution which has present day applications to that still troubled
> country. He says that in his profession he has campaigned for an
> all-Ireland football team bringing north and south together in sporting
> harmony. In this he failed, but the issue remains as southern Ireland has
> prospered within the EU while the north has stagnated. Today the spirit of
> the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement both in sport and politics is
> alive again and we can say
>
> UNITED WE STAND : DIVIDED WE FALL

INSIDE GAZA
We have been for a long time out of Gaza looking in with fellow
opponents of the terrible slaughter there who include Stop the War Campaign,
Our World Our Say, The Muslim opponents of the Gaza mass murderers and the
Morning Star which now it has gone on line is likely to become the most
influential Web Site in Britain. We have also been linked with such
influential people as Nasir Khan the Kashmiri born Muslim who keeps the
world informed on the Indian/Pakistan conflict because the continuance of
this great menace to the sub-Continent and the world lies in their
determination to control Kashmir. Other influential peace fighters include
the Australian John Pilfer whose country is now engulfed in controversy with
the film Australia which purports to show Australians as a united community
whereas the record of that country with its indigenous population of is
appalling and getting worse.
Further racism is indulged in in Britain where Gordon Brown and New
Labour are inextricably linked with Bush and Blair in supporting the war in
Iraq as well as Afghanistan, Gaza which are racist and unwinnable.
These criticisms apply to this very day when the Guardian has a deeply
disturbing 5-page feature on the slaughter in Gaza, but none of its
correspondents understand that Bush, Blair and Brown are the terrorists,
even more so these days as they are willing to see the world destroyed with
their Nuclear Madness.
But all of us have been on the outside looking in until today when
the Morning Star and Sami.Abdelshafi have taken us inside the resistance
movement in Gaza, Iraq and Afghanistan. These are the people we shall talk
to in future while Al Queeda English, the Arab website which is used by more
people than any other Web in the world catches up with the fact that the
people inside Gaza are the ones we talk with as the search for a
non-capitalist and impartial source of the news we are obliged to listen to
and watch and those who write and tell it have an enormous influence these
days.

MORE AGREE TO ATTEND MY 90TH BIRTHDAY WORLD WIDE PARTY.
Perhaps I’ll start with Robert Barnsby my son, who is also my
correspondent on the current situation in Greece. BLOGGERS will remember
that he took our family Christmas presents to London and was assaulted by a
burglar wielding what appeared to be toy gun with which he hit Rob about the
head and stole his wallet, credit cards and car. Today he has had a call
from the London police saying that they have impounded a car, and a weapon
looking like a toy gun and have taken a DNA sample from the suspected man
and will send two police officers to Wolverhampton tomorrow to take a DNA
sample from Rob. Thus the London police have been acting efficiently as we
hope the Wolverhampton police will on my Birthday when it seems a mass
exodus will takes place from Hen Road to my Party and we’ll need the police
to protect our houses while we are merry making at the Wolves FC Hayward
Suite.
Yesterday we had Ned Williams the well-known historian and Workers’
Education Association secretary sending his best wishes and saying that
although he has an engagement on that night he hopes to be at Wolves by
9-45pm which is the exact time that we have decided that toasts will be
made, the cake cut and the jollity will continue.
Tonight I have had an acceptance from a very dear friend of mine, the
Rev.Tom Rock the Catholic priest with whom I shared one of the most
interesting episodes of my life. This was in March 1982 when we organised a
Conference on Northern Ireland at the height of the Troubles with the twin
aims of giving those who lived there including children to have respite for
a week end secondly that we could inform us Wolverhampton people of the
situation there and what we could do to help the peace process. Two of the
most important speakers were Tom Rock, the local Roman Catholic Priest and
also the Rev. .Bill Boyd a local Protestant priest.
Unfortunately our intentions were misunderstood and the word went
around that we were bringing terrorists to Wolverhampton and we were denied
premises to hold the Conference by the expedient of making insurance
prohibitive. So in the end we had no alternative but to hold it on the
premises of Wolverhampton Race Equality Council which proved the most
appropriate venue for what was to be a most satisfactory event.
It was chaired by a Methodist minister, Rev.Nigel Gilson and opened
with massages of support from the Mayor, Ernest Bold and the Bishop of
Wolverhampton. Then a message was read from Derek Dougan, the famous Wolves
centre forward. Derek said that he had lived longer in England than he had
lived in Northern Ireland, but his saddened heart is still in East Belfast
where he was brought up. We were called Protestants, in another par of the
City they were called Catholics and he could never understand why there was
enmity and often hostility between the two. In England Protestants and
Catholics get on together so why not in Ireland? The question begs other
questions social, political and historical. For centuries politicians have
tried to solve and failed what is called the Irish question. This will
remain while sectarian violence stalk our streets. People must learn to talk
to each other about their differences and find common interests and mutual
respect. The shooting of three young soldiers in Ulster is a further
reminder that there are men of violence to whom any means are justified for
their own ends. But on my frequent visits I find a good quality of life
among the majority of people who are kindly, generous and peaceful.
Nothing could have expressed better the purpose of the conference which
then went into session with speakers from Wolverhampton and the Northern
Ireland Civil Rights Conference and as people got to know each other their
free time was taken up with discussion and plans for regular such
conferences and the children were looked after and the adults either
attended multi-faith religious services or found other useful ways to use
their time including the preparation of a report of the Conference of which
there are still a number unsold priced at 70p.
But I cannot resist reading the last part of Derek Dougan’s
contribution which has present day applications to that still troubled
country. He says that in his profession he has campaigned for an all-Ireland
football team bringing north and south together in sporting harmony. In this
he failed, but the issue remains as southern Ireland has prospered within
the EU while the north has stagnated. Today the spirit of the Northern
Ireland Civil Rights Movement both in sport and politics is alive again and
we can say

UNITED WE STAND : DIVIDED WE
FALL

NED WILLIAMS IS COMING TO THE WORLD PARTY.
I am very pleased indeed that Ned Williams will be coming to my 90th
Birthday World Party at Executive Club Hayward Suite Molineux Stadium
Wolverhampton on Thursday 29th January 2009.
Ned tells me that he will be working that night in Aldridge until 9pm.
but he will then jump in his car and be back in Wolverhampton and try to make
it for 9.45pm. The party will still indeed still be going strong at that
hour and it is exactly the time when toasts will be made and the cake cut.
Ned ends his letter by saying that whether he makes it or not he wishes Esme
and me both well and he is sure it will be a great success.
Ned and I have been very good friends for a very long time. Ned was one
of the first to recognise the value of my books on the working class
movement in the Black Country. But I also was very aware of Ned’s writings
on history, particularly Walsall history which is special in at least two
respects. Walsall was the only town in the Black country which was a Borough
and Foreign by Prescription and Ned has written about this period.
Also from the 1820s Walsall was a pioneering centre of Robert Owen’s original form of
Co-operation which involved the whole society in production as well as
consumption.
Central to this period was the incredible Samuel Welsh,, founding
editor of the Walsall Free Press in 1859, initiator and secretary of the
Walsall Cottage Hospital employing Sister Dora from 1863, founder president
of Walsall Trades Council from 1872, founder member 1873 Walsall Locks and
Cartgear which flourished for 113 years, and founding chairman of Walsall
consumer Co-operative Society.
Almost as remarkable was William Millerchip active in Locks and
Cartgear from 1887, national secretary of the Lock Union from 1902,
President Walsall Co-operative Society 1896-1910, thereafter Walsall
Councillor and Alderman , and national leader of the Co-operative
movement as a member of the Co-operative Central Board 1913-1938. Both Ned
and I have added to this history , but Ned has also contributed to the
history of leisure in the town including the career of Walsall showman and
MP, Pat Collins.
But it was in connection with a later part of my career that Ned
consented to help me and which is still current .
In April 2004 I had a stroke and was admitted to the West Park
Hospital. While there, the six of us in Ward 1 decided we would like to pay
a tribute to the whole stroke unit, patients, carers and staff by
participating in a sort of living history by following our fortunes,
problems, failures and successes and above all the humour which pervades a
stroke unit and interest the local press or people like Ned Williams and
Carl Chinn.
The six of us were Jack Leese,Arthur Walters, Stan Taggart, Geoffrey Groves, Ray Summer and George Barnsby. The period proved a eventful one. Two of the six, both bed ridden
for six months were antagonistic to each other, but when a fight broke out
it was started by a third patient . Justice was swift and condign. one was
removed to a single isolated ward and the other moved to the other side of the
ward with a dire warning from the staff.
Another problem was attention to patients. Each of us had a gadget
where you pressed a button for immediate attention. But there were
insufficient nurses to make this a reality and we all concluded that at the
early morning rush to wash and feed patients and the evening period getting
patients to bed that good intentions were greater than the resources
available to make individual response a reality.
Almost all stroke patients suffer from incontinence which the staff
invariably deal with efficiently and sympathetically. Most stroke patients
also suffer a loss of grip and therefore the ability to write. I suffered
from this less than some patients and so from probably 21 April I was able
to keep a diary which continued until I was discharged. So at least the
events of the period are on the record.
My next step was to interest the hospital administrators and Friends of
the Hospital in our intentions and enlist their support, but the question of
race relations was beginning to occupy my attention particularly as the Race
Relations Amendment Act 2002 required that all public institutions should
prepare a programme of action and publish their findings and this had been
done by the educational, university and hospital trust in Wolverhampton,
but it seemed that the Stroke Hospital had none. So I began enquiring around
and I was met, not with sympathy but with suspicion . Did I want to make a
complaint about my treatment? No.
At this point I contacted Ned Williams and let him know of the
situation. But time was ticking away and when it came to my turn to leave I
had neither been put in touch with Friends of the hospital or the officials
of the Wolverhampton City Primary Care Trust. Eventually on 2 Sep 04 I
received a letter from a Louise Kiteley, Director of Organisational
Development and Human Resources of the Primary Care Trust stating that she
had received a copy of my letter to Ned Williams copied to Jon Crockett the
chief executive of the Trust. She says that she would be more than willing
to discuss my concerns, but would ask what exactly my concerns were! She
apologised that she did not receive my request while I was in hospital, but
she received no such request!!
And that is how matters stand today. I regularly attend the Hospital
for six monthly check ups and are great friends with Dr. Friday and his
staff. I keep in touch with Jack Leese, but the project is at an end. My
last written communication was with Customer (I thought we were patients!)
Services manager, Howard Finegan who on 15 Sep 04 wrote as follows: He was
unaware of any problems at the time of my discharge. I mention Equal
Opportunities, although it is unclear what I am precisely asking. He cannot
give me details of the other patients I was with because it would contravene
Patient Confidentiality and he said that to protect my own confidentiality
it would be more appropriate to communicate by letter. I replied with
written comments which I faxed to him saying that they got themselves in a
pickle. You’ve undermined a unique project which would have brought comfort,
pleasure and support to all the Strike Community and been a credit to the
Hospital. I imagine it was because those who had to agree the project were
not based at the Hospital, but at Coniston House, Chapel Ash. So they knew
nothing of the project and this is impermissible in a unit as large as West
Park Hospital This was a question of incompetence rather than malice which,
as far as I know, remains unaddressed and I have since been unable to take
the matter further because the City’s Race Relations organisation, the
Wolverhampton Race Equality Council was dismantled by Sir Trevor Phillips
and no satisfactory alternative has so far been put into place. But the
world it is a’changing and with the Nuclear Maniacs such as Gordon Brown and
his cohorts being prepared to blow us all up it is time to put him under
lock and key and get on with the business of building a multicultural world

STOP THE MURDERS.
The Morning Star on Line is already paying dividends for me .
.Palestine solidarity protesters on Saturday as they made their way to a
demonstration at the Israeli embassy were savagely attacked by riot police
reports the paper. Britain unites to attack the Israeli strike. Mass
protests against the Israeli state’s terrorist attacks on the people of Gaza
swept Britain this week end. The Observer today mentions the demonstrations but only just. So in the words of the Saturday Morning Star we say:

STOP THE SLAUGHTER.

THE MORNING STAR IS ON LINE.
Nothing gives me greater satisfaction than to know that the only daily
Socialist newspaper in Britain is on line. This will vastly increase its
influence and
for the first time we have on line a site which knows that the most
important question in the world is to get Gordon Brown under lock and key
because he is a Nuclear Fanatic who is willing to see the world blown to
pieces and us all with it.
The Morning Star site is www.morningstaronline.co.uk and a splendid
site it is. I have already had contact with the MS editor, John Haylett, who
I want to publicise the George Barnsby World 90th Birthday Party which I’m
sure they will because the possibility of my having a World Party began with
the
MS printing on its Saturday Progressive Website Listing two matters with
which I
have been concerned. The first site is the Friends of Bilston Community
College, the first multicultural College in Britain which was closed by
racists and bigots, but refuses to lie down and is ready to return to
business as soon as it is recognised that the College was cleared by the
West Midlands Police of any criminal activity which the racist John Mellor
accused them of and so the present College now known as the City of
Wolverhampton College was illegally set up.
The second MS site, The George Barnsby Working Class Library and Free
Communist Bookshop also has an interesting history since the editor of the
Guardian nationally and the editor of the Blackcountryman locally refuse to
print anything by me or Friends of BCC thus exposing a prejudice and
ignorance which is being referred to the Court of Human Rights. So we have
every reason to be obliged to the Morning Star and we have invited John
Haylett to my World Party on my 90th Birthday on Thursday 29th January 2009
at the Wolves FC Banqueting Suite and we invite all interested readers of
the paper to attend on that night.

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM ARSENE WENGER.
Everyone who reads this BLOG knows that I have been for 75 years an
Arsenal supporter and 55 years, ever since we came to Wolverhampton, a fan of
Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Arsene is the manager known for his belief that English Clubs should be
owned by Englishmen and also belong to the local community. He is also the
advocate of bringing on young players instead of trying to buy success as
most Premiership clubs in England currently do. But teams owned by
foreigners in these days of Slump not experienced since the 1930s are liable
to be bankrupted and indeed disappear. Arsenal have been known for their
good housekeeping. That they built the new emirates stadium on time and on
budget perhaps because of Wenger’s best or worst buy depending on how you
look
at it. For Anelka that moody and restless player who Wenger was obliged to
sell abroad, paid almost one third of the cost of Arsenal’s new Emirates
stadium. But Wenger recognises that all clubs, including Arsenal will face
unprecedented difficulties today.
Wenger believes that in ten years time his policy of youth development
and absence of debts will be totally justified and he asks Arsenal fans to
be patient and not expect him to spend vast sums on players even if Arsenal
have dropped out of the top four clubs. He believes that the club is one of
the few not dependent on the banks for their profits. That they generate
their own profits and this will carry them through the very difficult
period facing all clubs.
And these difficulties have been illustrated by the Third Round FA Cup
ties played today where Chelsea only drew and Manchester City was only one
of the big spending brigade who were beaten today.

THE COLOUR OF YOUR SKIN.
Paul Ince is still out of employment sacked by his club, Blackburn
Rovers, who cannot afford the drop to the Championship and the loss of many
millions of pounds which will ensue. So it was encouraging to be reminded
today that there is one other black manager among the 92? League clubs
controlled by the Football Association Keith Alexander. And he manages the same club that
Paul Ince started out with, namely Macclesfield Town. But racism still
exists in football in football despite the efforts of Kick it Out.

EVERYTHING STOPS FOR ICE.
Reader of this BLOG will know how much I advocate a retractable roof
for football stadiums such as the one that covers the Welsh National Stadium
and that I am currently waiting for an estimate from Mr.Fryer, the Arsenal
managing director for an estimate of how much it would cost to cover , when
the Wolves-Birmingham City cup tie was one of four postponed
because of ice and frost. I shall have to ask Rachael Heyhoe Flint who acts
as go-between with Sir Jack Hayward when he is out of the country how much
this necessity would cost at the Molineux.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CUBAN PEOPLE ON THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CUBAN
REVOLUTION
Yes indeed. And it gives me a chance to end tonight’s BLOG with a new
inspiring slogan:

HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FIDEL AND CHE.
Today is the 50th Anniversary of the Cuban Revolution. Richard Gott in
today’s Guardian, himself a seasoned militant, recalls this greatest event in
Cuban history as follows. As history students we were fascinated by the
Spanish Civil War of two decades earlier and the aging leaders of the 2nd
World War - McMillan, Eisenhower, De Gaule etc. Then along rolled the Cuban
Revolution with its charaismatic and bearded leadership of Fidel Castro
and Che Guvara descending from the hills , young men in their twenties
brandhishing guns, seizing the cities and calling for land reform. For the
first time in their history the unknown continent of Latin America suddenly
emerged into view. and Castro began his epic struggle with the US and there
took place the abolition of the sugar quote, The CIA invasion of the Bay of
Pigs, the arrival of Soviet oil and the missile crisis of 1962. Like
hundreds of others I could not wait to get to the promised land which
occurred for him in 1963. Here he soon travelled all oveer Cuba and enrolled
in his local street committes ‘for the defence of the revolution’, met all
the leaders and listened to Fidel making one of his poetic and mesmerising
speeches in the Plaza de la Revolucion.
What struck Gott most was to find the revolutionary leaders almost all
white. Yet at least half the island’s population were white and mostly the
descendents of first generation immigrants from Spain as were the rich
whites later to be called the Miami Cubans who were the pimps and
prostitutes who catered for the American visitors to the Cuban casinos. The
black Cuban people were certainly enjoying themselves. The Cuban people
black and white were throughly enjoying themselves taking over the luxury
villlas in the outskirts of Havana vacated by the wealthy imagining that the
Americans would relocate them by wiping out Castro and his Communists. They
have had a long wait and will wait for ever as blacks have become a mainstay
of the revolution. Over the years, the Cubans have followed the Soviet Union
in opposing Dubcek in the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, which surely
Che, more romantic would have opposed. But as the years went by South
American countries succumbed to vicious fascist dicatorships such as
Pinochet in Chile where people were imrpisoned, tortured or just
disappeared.. Compared with these countries Cuba’s was a peaceful
resolution..
Gott became a South American correspondent for the Guardian and did not
return to Cuba until recent years. By this time civil regimes had emerged
in South America which found their way to a new form of Socialism based on
Bolivar, the original liberator of South America. Fidel therefore becomes
the greatest Latin American figure of the twentieth century. An emblematic
leader comparable to the heroes of the nineteenth century struggles for
independence. Through these years most countries have come to sympathise
with Cuba and are prepared to advocate the lifting of the American blockade.
The final solution to Cuba’s problems lie with the new president of the USA,
Barak Obama. For the black population of Cuba a visit by Obama would be an
event as magical and spectacular as that moment 50 years ago when Fidel and
Che acknowledged the plaudits of the crowds, the dawn of hope of a new
world.

THE GEORGE BARNSBY WORLD 90TH BIRTHDAY PARTY.
We are relying on our comrades in the Communist Party of Britain to
invite the leaders of the new Socialism to be present at my party, if
possible, and if not to send greetings. Our own preparations for the party
proceed apace and I have taken up the suggestion of one of our police
friends that I ask the Wolverhampton Chief Constable if he can see his way
clear to provide a foot police person and also a police patrol car to protect
the inhabitants of 119 to 157 Henwood Rd. to protect them from burglars as
most of them will be at the birthday party. I have also stated that if he
would like to drop in at the party, that he would be very welcome.

THE MAYOR OF LONDON AND VARIOUS OTHER CONSERVATIVES WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE AT
THE WORLD PARTY.
Lastly tonight I want to show how serious i am in making my party a
world one is to invite all Conseertives both local and nantional who are
opposed to the war in Iraq. Top of my list is Kenneth Clarke one of the
dozen or so Conservative MPs who voted agains the war, and who is having a
new lease of life as the prospects emerge that he be not just any old
minister in a Conservative-Lib-Dem coalition after the next general
election, but as the PRIME minister.as dissatisfaction grows with David
Cameron who in 1903 opposed the war but has since changed his mind and the
Tories chances of winning the election with it.
Then there is the Tory Mayor of London, Boris Johnson who from 2003
opposed the war in Iraq, but who since reaching this exalted office has
changed his mind decided support the war. But never mind. If he changed his
mind once he can change it back again.
Then there is another Tory, Matthew Parris, the chronicler of Great
Parliamentary Scandals. And could there be a greater scandal than a
non-elected Prime Minister willing to set the world at risk by nuclear
madness. And Richard Dawkins with the atheists’ Manifesto the God Delusion.
I can’t imagine he would have any truck with the war mongers Bush, Blair and
Brown.
And finally our local Conservatives who oppose the war in Iraq, but who
are not yet prepared to form an anit-war coalition in Wolverhampton which
would give an example to the rest of Britain that the days of tthe war
mongers are over and most of us will

STRIVE FOR PEACE TO OUR LAST BREATH

BARBARIANS ARE AT THE GATES.
New Year’s Day has dawned and a goodly number of people are well aware
of the dark prospects that face us. So much so that columnists in the
Guardian which I take daily because I cannot afford to buy other progressive
sources such as the Independent, I buy despite the fact that the editor ,
Alan Rusbridger , has never printed a letter of mine or from the Friends of
Bilston Community College which was the first multicultural College in
Britain with one third of its staff and a similar proportion of students
multicultural and was closed by racists or bigots, despite the fact that no
other College before or since has reached such heights of multiculturalism.
Columnists in the Guardian such as Larry Elliot, Seamus Milne, Marcel
Berlins , Henry Porter, Polly Toynbee, Marina Hyde and others understand
that 2009 far from being a year of Happiness and Good Cheer is likely to be
one of Misery and Ruin as millions of people lose their jobs, then their
houses and the gap between rich and poor becomes so large that the poor will
be in a state of pauperism not seen in England since Victorian times and not
seen in America since the 1930s. Under these circumstances I have asked
Rusbridger if we cannot bury the hatchet and join together in building the
progressive alliance necessary to stop Blair and Bush destroying the world
with their Maniacal Nuclear Power which would blow the earth and everyone in
it to smithereens
For us Socialists there is much for us to be proud of and to believe
that the future is Socialist. This is typified by Fidel Castro whose recent
book ‘My Life’ is for me not only the book of the year but the book of the
decade . Fidel was left for dead by his US opponents, but remains the
longest state ruler in the world the survivor of more than 200 attacks on
his life and the builder of a Socialist system which is the best in the
world for its medical services and education system, which has been exported
to many other countries in the world while its ability to survive hurricanes
has led it to offer support to the US for the political disasters of
Katrina. Nor is that all, for in his magnificent book written in
collaboration with Ignacio Ramonet the later chapters give the very wisest
words on the fall of the Soviet Union, the present state of Cuba and the
prospects of the USA and capitalism
There is every reason to be optimistic of the new Socialism in
Venezuela, Bolivia and every other country in South America, base on the
traditions of Bolivar in their struggles against Spanish and American
imperialism. And as Chinese communism develops at a phenomenal speed and in
two important parts of India two Communist governments have survived for
many years and are now facing up to the problems of a Socialist consumer
society there is every reason to think that they might be successful.
Certainly they will move the centre of gravity of capitalism from the USA
into Asia.
But Marx and Engels were conscious of a third solution in the struggle
between Capitalism and Communism. This was the total ruin of the contending
parties. And that is a very real possibility in 2009 when Nuclear
annihilation is a possibility when the culprits Bush, Blair and Brown do not
even seem to admit that they are the main terrorists in he world today and
until they are put under lock and key, the possibility of a new Holocaust
will continue to exist.
The possibility of the ruin of the contending class is apparent however
in the writing of Marx who had sacrificed his life and health in the
writing of three vast volumes of Capital and three equally enormous volumes
of Theories of Surplus Value and had the integrity to admit that he had not
solved the basic problem of what constituted value. Today some of our best
economists who tend to think that the present crisis can be solved by using
Lord Keynes’ theory fail to appreciate that Keynes method was politics
without class struggle and it is highly unlikely that today’s world can be
changed without such struggle.
It is my son Robert, however, wounds almost healed from the burglar’s
assaults, facing the problem of losing his job in a slump which has no
equal, not even in the 1930s, and my correspondent on the present riots in
Greece when society appears to be disintegrating before our very eyes that
Rob sees barbarians at the gates while those of us inside must try to avoid
what happened with the fall of the Roman Empire.

GEORGE BARNSBY’S 90TH BIRTHDAY PARTY.
Meanwhile in Wolverhampton there are negative features of vandalism
and knife and gun hooligans , but also more promising features, such as
Wolverhampton being able to provide an example to the rest of the country by
having a coalition of Tories who oppose the war in Iraq, Lib-Dems who have
always opposed the war and Labour councillors opposed to the war.
Unfortunately I have still received no reply from the Tory leader of the
Council of whether he will agree to form such a coalition, nor from the
mayor who I have asked if she will join the 200 US mayors who oppose the war
in Iraq.
However, I look forward to my 90th Birthday Part at the Wolves Sir
Jack Hayward suite becoming a World Event which will welcome such Socialist
leaders as Fidel Castro, Evo Mores and other leaders or their
representatives to Wolverhampton and also renewing relations with friends
such as Wilson Givern who have the same aim as this BLOG to make
Wolverhampton the city of 2009 of Culture, Education, Sport and Business of
the Year, and all those who will help to make this come true. For this we
shall:

STRIVE UNTIL OUR LAST BREATH.

NEW YEAR’S EVE.
And so it has come round again once more. The time to see the New Year
in on the Tele. For us old ones we have fond memories of Hogmanay and the
seeing in of the New Year from Scotland with Robbie Burns’ Auld Lang Syne.
Incidentally the Guardian has a feature today on Robbie Burns saying that
some expert had come up with the idea that Burns was a revolutionary who
supported the French Revolution. Well fancy that! A new biography by a
Scottish professor on the 250th anniversary of the poet believes he has
unearthed conclusive proof that Burns sympathised with the French
Revolution. Well I never, again. Talk about teaching your mother to suck
eggs! I have known and rejoiced in the fact that Burns was a revolutionary
who put his life on the line in the days after 1815 and the defeat of the
French Revolution when the most reactionary Tory government that Britain
ever had until Margaret Thatcher ruled Britain and Burns held revolutionary
views from which he never wavered.
Tonight in our household there is only one matter on which Esme and I
agree and that is why can’t we have the old type of Scottish programme to
see the New Year in? She suggests that we switch between the programme on
Radio 1 where there is an Irish party on HMS Belfast with celebrities such
as Strictly Come Dancing (which Esme detests and I love) and some last
summer’s Olympic Games winners and culminates in a breathtaking fireworks
display from the London Eye. We both agree that we should watch the
fireworks. On Radio 2 is Jools Holland’s Annual Hootenanny with his Rhythm
and Blues band and the 1st Bn Scots Guards marking midnight. I shall opt for
this one. On ITV1 there is Elton John’s New Year’s Eve Party with the singer
performing his greatest hits. Not really to our taste, but we could try it
for a while. I hope we will enjoy ourselves and go to bed sober and I’ll
leave New Year’s wishes until tomorrow.

THE NEW YEAR DISHONOURS LIST.
We have the usual New Years list which should have been modernised
donkey’s years ago. The British Empire ended after 1945 and Orders of the
British Empire and MBEs are archaic awards which sensible people reject. It
is particularly repulsive when black people take the queen’s shilling and
fail to follow Benjamin Zephaniah, the Rasta poet’s example and reject the
so-called honours of an institution which killed, tortured and exploited
their ancestors. Of course, good works in the community should be rewarded,
but it is distressing to see Lewis Hamilton who has done sufficient honour
to his race by being not only the first black person to have driven in
Formula One Racing, but is the first black to win the World championship.
Then there is a bevy of black women who have betrayed their race and
become Baronesses. One of the most interesting to me is Baroness Scotland,
the first ever woman Attorney-General and the first to be given a brief to
reform the House of Lords. Very noble. But is it likely to be root and
branch reform as Oliver Cromwell reformed it by cutting off the head of
Charles I or is it likely to be the later Cromwell who ruled the
Protectorate as king in all but name. We have our modern example in the
black US president Barak Obama who won power in a nation ripe for change,
but who now supports the war in Iraq and will need the pressure of the US
working class, and indeed the working class of the world to shake off the
fetters of US capitalism; although the present economic crisis which has
forced the US ruling class to take the essentially Socialist measure of
nationalising the banks will help keep Obama on the path of change.
Britain could help by removing the war criminal Gordon Brown and
replacing him with Diane Abbott who is both black and a woman and it is this
BLOG which has been her advocate

THE END OF THE DAY.
So we have seen the New Year in and it was much as I forecast. We
switched from New Year Live to Jools Hootenanny to Elton’s New Year’s Eve
Party, but none was giving us anything which could be termed appropriate to
the occasion. But BBC1 had the edge and enabled us to drink our glasses of
mulled wine to toast the 2009. The fireworks were very impressive and BBC1
found time to sing Auld Lang Syne and people linked hands in a show of
fraternity which was absent in the other two programmes. Everyone was
insisting that 2009 would be the greatest year ever, when a veritable child
would know that it is the year when all our problems climax and we are all
as likely to be dead from the efforts of Gordon Brown and his Nuclear
Maniacs or Somalian Pirates as to be alive and enjoy a Happy and Prosperous
New Year. And why did none of the charming and intelligent people who
entertained us tonight have the gumption to say what needed to be said;

FOR A HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS 2009 ARREST ALL WARMONGERS
AND END ALL WARS.

IMPORTANT UPDATE - GAZA NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION.
The time and assembly point for the HANDS OFF GAZA national
demonstration on Saturday organised by the STOP THE WAR Coalition have been
changed. The protest will now assemble at Embankment, London WC2 at 12-30pm
. Nearest Tube Embankment or Charing Cross under the slogans of: HANDS OFF
GAZA; STOP THE BOMBING; FREE PALESTINE.. Coaches will be going from Walsall
and Wolverhampton no doubt, so contact either Martin Lynch for Walsall or
Andy Goodall for Wolverhampton, both of whose names are in the local
telephone directories.

GEORGE GALLOWAY DISAPPOINTS ME.
I say this because George is a man I greatly admire for his
originality and drive. Yet he has a letter in Monday’s Guardian which dodges
the paramount issue for all of us, namely how to get Gordon Brown and his
New Labour cohorts under lock and key after which ‘terrorism’ would almost
completely disappears since it is Bush, Blair and Brown who are the three
most important terrorists in the world.
George has a letter in yesterday’s Guardian which ignores this basic
premiss but which otherwise is of considerable value. It stresses that the
credit crunch and the collapse of the British economy has left a space for a
non-Labour party left to develop . George goes on to say that we in Respect
have established an electoral base in East London, parts of Birmingham and
in some other parts of the country. We have also seen the welcome election
of Dai Davies in south Wales, but the electoral system continues to pose a
barrier to the electoral advance of the parliamentary left outside
Parliament. And we have not been without our own self -inflicted problems.
However we are optimistic that we can make serious progress in 2009 coming
together with others to establish more electorally credible policies to
challenge the neo-liberal promises which have brought such economic
devastation to Britain In this regard, and among other initiatives Ken
Liivingstone has called an important Conference to rally progressive forces
in London on January 24. I hope such initiatives will take matters forward.
Yes George, these are important points but where is the roaring lion
who won an East End seat for Respect, and bearded the lions of the American
Congress when George W.Bush was in total control and made them look stupid
for supporting wars which were racist and unwinnable. The roaring lion has
become a timid pussycat (and I don’t mean the one he impersonated when he
did one of his most daring acts in the TV programme Big Brother). Worst of
all to me is the fact that George doesn’t even recognise me as a kindred
spirit and no matter how many BLOGS I send him, continues to act like other
Labour social-democratic MPs and fails to answer me.
Fortunately there are new lions willing to roar, and not necessarily
from the Labour Party. I take from today’s letter page in the Guardian
Caroline Lucas of the Green Party slating Brown for his complicity in
supporting the Israelis against the Palestinians; Michael Meadowcroft from
Leeds who says bluntly that Israel doesn’t want a settlement with the
Palestinians because it would prevent them occupying the whole of the West
Bank. Then there is John Berger, another old favourite of mine who says it
is established by the Israelis that one Israeli life is equal to 100
Palestinians and that the longest occupation of foreign territories in
twentieth century European history is viscerally racist . That the Jewish
people should accept this, that the world should concur, that the
Palestinians should submit; this is one of history’s ironic jokes. But
there’s no laughter anywhere. What we can do, however is to refute it more
and more vocally.
My own thoughts are the contrast between the followers of the Christ
child born in a manger in Bethlehem and thus naturally coloured (brown) and
the chalky whiteness of the Israeli leaders who claim to speak in Christ’s
name. This is further evidence of American imperialism whereby an important
proportion of immigrants to the promised land have been white Americans who
now control the country and who treat their brown brothers as inferior
citizens in their own land.
Much more to my liking is such people as Lib-Dem leaders Menzies
Campbell, Nick Clegg and Vince Sale who opposed the war in Iraq from the
beginning and even Tories such as Kenneth Clarke who also opposed the war
from the beginning and now looks set to be not only a minister in the next
Tory government as David Cameron persists in committing hari-kari by not
only supporting the war in Iraq which once he opposed it, but refuses to
answer my pleas that he must oppose it.
It seems, therefore, that Tory rank and file are getting anxious and
there is speculation that victory at the next election will evade them
unless changes are made now. So bring back Ken Clarke they say as
speculation of a reshuffle grows. And so there is a picture of Ken smiling
benignly, and raising a fedora hat. Ken thinks that being an opposition
spokesman would be tedious but it would be fun to be a minister in a Tory
government especially PRIME minister as this becomes increasingly likely as
the crunch unfolds.
So there it is George Galloway. But I would be very sorry to lose you
as No1. innovator and suggest that there is one sure way of regaining your
position and that would be to attend the George Barnsby World Wide 90th
Birthday Party at the Wolves FC on Thursday 29 January 2009 from 7pm Sir
John Hayward Suite, and mix with Socialists from throughout the world who
have never betrayed their principles and are about to have their efforts
rewarded by a modern world federation of Socialist states. So do come
George, you will be most welcome.
And for this we say we will:

FIGHT UNTIL OUR LAST BREATH.

THE HORROR OF GAZA CONTINUES.
The newspaper pictures paint the picture of unremitting slaughter.
Officials in Gaza say nearly 300 killed and 600 injured. Calls for
investigation after seven students at a United Nations college die. And the
Israeli leaders call for the complete defeat of Hamas. Ehud Olmet presides
over the killing, but an election is due in February and it is expected that
Binyamin Netanyahu the Likud leader and former prime minister will win on a
policy of toppling Hamas, expanding settlements on the West Bank and
maintain Israel’s occupation of the Golan Heights. Meanwhile Tzipi Livnie
elected leader of Olmert’s Kadima party in the autumn since when support for
the party has plummeted. She is currently foreign minister and considered
less hawkish than many in Israeli politics. But Mahmoud Abas leader of
Fatah, rivals to Hamas and Ismail Haniyeh the public face of Hamas in Gaza
has kept a low profile since being dismissed as prime minister after Hamas’s
bloody take over of Gaza in July 2007. And Khaled Meshaal Hammas’s
political leader lives in exile in the Syrian capital of Damascus calls for
a renewed campaign of suicide bombers against Israeli targets. And the only
people who can legitimately interfere are the United Nations and Barak
Osama. But will they?

A TALE OF THE BARNSBY 90TH BIRTHDAY PARTY,
A footballing man has three footballing sons. Each of them in turn were
taken on by Wolves FC and everyone of them in turn refused to clean the
football boots of the senior footballers and so each of them in turn were
very properly dismissed. But the father, shortly after the death of his wife
married again, and none of the sons have ever forgiven him for this and they
don’t even communicate with their father who does not know where they live.
So suppose I invite the three sons, through this BLOG and suppose they read
it or heard about it from some one else and they came to the party and were
united with their father if not his wife, wouldn’t that be splendid and, of
course, that is what the BLOG is all about.

BURGLARS BEWARE ON PARTY NIGHT.
It is hoped that there will be almost a mass exodus from 119 Henwood
Rd. where Joe Davies to 149 where Geoff Sidbottom lives and on to 155
where Laurence Patton resides and all will be coming to the party with their
good ladies. Now since I have advertised the event on my BLOG it is
necessary that I take precautions to see that we are not robbed while we are
enjoying ourselves. I would suggest at a minimum a policeman on foot who
might very well take his post up in my house and then also a police control
car which with its flashing blue lights should warn off intruders. So I have
made preliminary arrangements and found out that Sandra Hollingshead of
Tettenhall Police Station is the lady to contact, but she is away for the
next few days.
I find it easier to pursue this matter as we at the far end of Henwood
Road have for some time talked of forming a Crime Watch for our part of
Henwood Rd. and this will be an ideal time to put our good intentions into
practice.
So, just as we are telling all our friends in the world of the time and
place of the Party, we are also warning the criminal classes that there will
be no easy pickings on that memorable night for them.

BITS AND PIECES IN WOLVERHAMPTON.
Reports of ‘utter bedlam’ as 750 people queued to get into Next who
opened its doors at 5am to allow in hundreds of people some of whom had been
queuing since midnight in sub-arctic temperature of -1 degree centigrade.
In some places queuers dragged down huge piles of shelving, took what they
wanted and chucked the rest away.
Closures begin at Woolworths. 800 branches are closing today including
Dudley, Walsall, Wednesbury Stourbridge, Kidderminster and Rugeley. The
Wolverhampton branch will close on January 5th unless a last minute buyer
appears. Some hope!
Warm Welcome for a Cold Hunt. Hundreds of hunt supporters braved the
winter weather to support the traditional Boxing Day Albrighton Hunt which
started from the stately home of Hagley Hall without any hint of Hunt
Protesters who have created trouble ever since the Bill banning hunting with
dogs was made illegal four years ago. Thus emboldened hunt supporters
claimed that 300,000 supporters turned up at their traditional hunts
nationwide. This, they claim shows a groundswell of support for the
abolition of the act , as Lord Cobham beamed down happily from the balcony
of his stately home, Hagley Hall.

THE BATTLE FOR BEATTIES
Beatties has been the flagship Store in Wolverhampton for decades. In
recent years its ownership changed from the previous family one to the
House of Fraser and the store has continued to deteriorate ever since. But
now Fraser’s has been taken over by an Icelandic firm, which is now being
nationalised by the Icelandic government. As an item in the Express and
Star points out there are only 300,000 people in tiny Iceland, so its rather
like being taken over by a town like Cardiff. A rum affair. But even this
may not be enough to save Beatties, such is the turmoil presided over by
Gordon Brown who could with the new US president Obama, see the slump off if
only they would end the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Africa. So
we end the day with our new slogan:

FIGHTING UNTIL OUR
LAST BREATH.

WHILE GAZA BURNS.
Who can look at the pictures today without feelings of horror,
disgust and
shame. Horror for the people of Gaza, disgust that human beings can inflict
such devastation and shame that the man behind such brutalities is Gordon
Brown who has supported and financed the war in Iraq from 2003.
Fortunately the forces of resistance are not far away. An email from
the West Midlands Palestine Solidarity Campaign takes up the challenge.
Today (Monday) there will be vigil in the Birmingham City centre calling
for an end to Israel’s attacks on Gaza called by the Midlands Palestine
Community Association and West Midlands PSC which all progressive people are
asked to attend.. Their press release says that even by the standards of
Israeli oppression of Gaza and the West Bank their conduct is horrific. The
indiscriminate slaughter with the determination for more to follow has led
even the most passive of European governments to protest at Israel for this
action. But unfortunately it is only protest and the EU and USA speak out
only when obliged to by public pressure. Otherwise Israel is allowed a free
hand to ignore the long list of UN resolutions in support of Palestine’s
rights under international law. Points which have been made include (i) the
attacks have more to do with the Israeli election campaign than with
security (ii) Israel is committing atrocities which it knows would be
agreed to by the Bush government before Obama takes over (iii) if any other
country used jet fighters to strafe the most crowded refugee camp in the
world there would be calls for UN/EU troops to be sent in. It will have
been noted when Ehud Barak, Israel’s defence minister was shown on TV news
bulletins stating that an Israel attack on Gaza was imminent , there,
standing smilingly and supportive by his side was our Foreign Secretary,
David Miliband.
The text of the WMPCA press release contains the following.
Palestinians in the UK are shocked and horrified at the unfolding events in
the Gaza Strip where Israel has launched tens of missiles on Gaza resulting
in the death of 140 people and hundreds of injuries. This follows a
prolonged and immoral siege which has lasted for months and which has denied
Palestinians food, pure water, electricity and medical supplies.
We are concerned for the safety and well being of relatives and
friends who are again suffering under the collective punishment meted out by
Israel that continues to operate beyond the law and in defiance of accepted
human rights conventions. The MPCA condemns Israel’s actions and calls on
the British government to do the same .
Kamel Hawwash, chair of MPCA, says that the cruelty of Israel knows
no bounds and the fact that the attacks were timed to coincide with the
ending of the school day in Gaza shows that the intention was to inflict as
much terror, death and destruction as possible. He goes on to stress that
Israel’s attacks cannot break the will of the Palestinian people to be free
and Israel must negotiate withdrawal from all the occupied territories
including East Jerusalem and the dismantlement of the illegal settlements.
MPCA ask us to support the their activities which we willingly do and
strengthen the Movement in the West Midlands.

MARIKA SHERWOOD’S NEW YEAR’S GREETINGS..
Marika, gentle but militant leader of the Black and Asian Studies
Association, is author of the biography of Claudia Jones who was exiled from
the US in the McCarthy period and sent to England with which she had no
connections but as a US Communist started the famous Notting Hill Carnival.
Marika is also author of After Abolition - Britain and the Slave Trade
since 1807. Marika and I have been friends for many years from the time she
recognised me as a kindred spirit and ever since she has sent me notes of
encouragement, of which her New Year greetings is an example which will
give me a motto for today and other days. She writes; ‘Dearest George and
Esme. I wish I could be with you to celebrate your 90th. Birthday (I am a
babe in comparison - only 71) and how many years of struggle, but I shall be
in New York and Washington catching up with some postponed research. I hope
you have a wonderful gathering of friends and reporters. I wish you more
years of activism. And then a nice coloured greeting which reads I wish you
a Healthy and productive 2009 and Peace for all of us. Given the state of
the world we have to keep fighting until our last breath. Yes, Marika:

FIGHTING UNTIL OUR LAST
BREATH.